In many server applications, processors, along with their associated electronics (e.g., memory, disc drives, power supplies, etc.), are packaged in a removable drawers or subsystems configuration stacked within an electronics rack or frame, including information technology (IT) equipment. In other cases, the electronics may be in fixed locations within the rack or frame.
As is known, as circuit density of electronic devices increases in order to achieve faster and faster processing speeds, there is a corresponding demand for circuit devices to be packed more closely together, and for circuits themselves to be operated at increasingly higher clock speeds. Each new generation of processors and associated electronics continues to offer increased speed and function. In most cases, this is been accomplished by a combination of increased power dissipation and increased packaging density. The net result has been increased circuit density at all levels of packaging, including at the electronics rack level. This increased packaging density continues to increase load at the electronics rack level on the data center floor, which may be of concern in a raised floor data center environment.